My sister took her own life after making sick pact with online chat room stranger who flew over from US to watch her die
Adele Zeynep Walton, 26, told how her sister Aimee was discovered dead by cops in a hotel room in October 2022.
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Aimee, who was just 21-years-old at the time, was found with a total stranger, who had flown from the US to watch her die.
The sisters - who were raised in Southampton, Hampshire, both had active online lives growing up, but Aimee more so.
Adele said that Aimee, who was neurodivergent, was bullied as a teenager and turned to online communities instead.
When the pandemic hit, Aimee withdrew even further into the online world, her sister - writing in The Telegraph - explained.
She broke up with her boyfriend and spent an increasing amount of time in her room.
The first Covid lockdown in England was announced in March 2020, and the third was on January 2021.
It was in October 2022 that Adele - who was 25 at the time - and her parents were told that Aimee was dead.
Aimee was found in a hotel room in Slough, Berkshire, 60 miles away from her home - with a stranger.
They had met through a sick online forum that "partners" up people looking to end their own lives.
This forum was also how she got her hands on the substance that killed her - reportedly from Kenneth Law, who has been linked to 88 deaths in the UK.
According to The New York Times, the forum was founded by two men who run several "incel" websites.
Adele took it upon herself to visit the thread and said many of the posts said: "Your family don't care about you" and "You should do it."
She told The Guardian that the man who was with her little sister could have been "living out a sick fantasy as an incel who wants to see a young and vulnerable woman end her life'.
The man told police he had been working for the 11 days he spent in the hotel room with Aimee.
Adele wrote in The Telegraph: "This forum has taken at least 50 UK lives, including my sister.
"From looking at the forum myself, I can see just how easy it is to end up in a rabbit hole of despair, where vulnerable users are told their loved ones don't care about them.
"Being informed by police that Aimee died in a hotel room with a stranger who she met on this forum, and who flew from the US to witness her death, still haunts me."
Adele now campaigns about the harms of the online world and has written a book called Logging Off: The Human Cost of Our Digital World.
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.
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